Update: Legendary whisky collector Valentino Zagatti passed away today, on October 21st in 2021. I only ever met him briefly three years ago, but he left a lasting impression. He was every bit as generous and friendly as people had told me. Interviewing him was one of the highlights of my career in whisky writing. My thoughts are with his family and friends. The original article was posted on October 17th in 2018.
If you follow me at all on social media, it would be impossible for you to have missed that I interviewed Italian whisky collector Valentino Zagatti last week. Beforehand I was somewhat nervous about how everything would work out. I don’t speak Italian, and he speaks little English. Trying to come away with something substantial while with an interpreter in between seemed daunting.
Thank god it worked out beautifully (thanks again, Ronald!). Signore Zagatti turned out to be wonderfully modest, friendly, generous and overall very impressive. Honestly, it was one of the highlights of my career as a whisky writer. I’ve since written extensively about Zagatti elsewhere, so I’m not going to repeat myself by doing it on my own personal blog too. Instead, I urge you to read both my articles about Zagatti on Scotchwhisky.com: one in-depth piece on his collection, and the interview, of course.
So no long article about Valentino Zagatti, but what I will do on Words of Whisky, is leave you with a few pictures I took at the Unseen Valentino Zagatti Collection, an impressive exhibition in a small town in the Netherlands, detailing the entire collection of Valentino Zagatti. Enjoy!
Interviewing Valentino Zagatti. Ronald Zwartepoorte (my boss at Whisky Passion Magazine) on the left. 
Okay, maybe some even older Macallan will do? 
LEGEND! 
This is far from the entire collection… 
Officially opened. Hooray! 
Signore Zagatti with his children and grandchildren. 
That’s the oldest bottle right there, from 1843. 
Close-up. 
Even closer-up. 
Signore Zagatti with Michel Kappen and his daughter. 
Proof! I was there. I did not make this up. 
Zagatti with whisky writer Hans Offringa. 
Signore Zagatti with Keepers (and one Master) of the Quaich. 
Old Ardbeg, that’ll do. 
Old Highland Park. This is just the beginning… 
Some halfway decent Glenlivet from the 1950s. 
I have the modern version of that Ben Nevis. 
Yes please. 
It doesn’t get much better than pre-WWII Macallan. 
Everybody loves Glendronach! 
Undisclosed distillery, but I don’t think anybody cares. 
Springbank baby! 
The collection consists of over 3,000 bottles.
Thanks again to Valentino Zagatti for taking the time to sit down with me, and being very generous with his time. If you’re interested in visiting the exhibition, well, that might not be as easy as just buying a ticket. Scotch Whisky International (the current owner of the collection) is contemplating opening up the exhibition to regular visitors, but they aren’t quite sure how they’re going to do so. Maybe keep an eye on this website.
